Initially, the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy will be able to produce 80,000 Fiat 500 Electric annually.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced a major €700 million ($788 million) investment in its main Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy to build a new assembly line for the all-new Fiat 500 Electric.

The progress is well advanced as the first robot was installed today and the first pre-production 500 BEV will be produced by the end of this year. Series production should start during the second-quarter of 2020.

FCA said also that around 1,200 people will be dedicated to the production of the Fiat 500 BEV with an initial production capacity of 80,000 units annually.

As the best-selling, all-electric subcompact model in Europe (Renault ZOE) reached about 40,000 sales in its best year, it's not clear how many 500 BEV Fiat will be able to sell in Europe (especially with all the competition from other manufacturers in the segment). We assume that a significant part of the production will be exported to North America, replacing the current Fiat 500e.

"The installation of a state-of-the-art Comau robot today at one of the largest and most historic automotive plants in the world represented a link between past and future, with an event that celebrated the Mirafiori plant's 80th anniversary and beginning of construction of the assembly line for the new Fiat 500 BEV. This new generation of vehicles continues the long tradition of innovative models (more than 35 in total) that have rolled off the assembly lines at Mirafiori. Among these is the first Fiat 500 which began production in 1957."

"Today's celebrations marked the opening of a new chapter for Mirafiori. The platform being installed at the plant is specific to electric cars and its first application will be the Fiat 500 BEV. Today, the first robot was installed and the rest of the plant will be retooled over the coming months. In the body shop alone, there will be a total of 200 robots enabling a fully-automated welding process. Production of the first pre-production models is scheduled to begin by year-end. Around 1,200 people will be dedicated to production of the Fiat 500 BEV and the new assembly line will have an annual capacity of 80,000 units, with the potential for expansion."

Market launch in less than a year means that soon we should see the production model, as so far Fiat unveiled only the Fiat Concept Centoventi concept at the Geneva Motor Show.

The new electric platform for Fiat 500 Electric is expected to be used also for other models in the future. FCA already announced a broad investment plan in new BEVs and PHEVs.

""The 500 BEV project is part of FCA's much broader investment plan for Italy over the 2019-2021 period. In fact, the Group will invest a total of €5 billion to support a substantial renewal of its product range with the introduction of 13 all-new or significantly refreshed models and a comprehensive offering of electric vehicles, including 12 electrified versions of new or existing models.""

Maybe now people won't export all the current 500e's to Europe. Before exporters started doing that you could find a used 500e for ~$5-6k. Now since they have a somewhat higher demand overseas the prices have gone up to over $10k.

I will say that the 500e was the best Fiat in the US because it eliminated the weakest link and that's the ICE drivetrain. The EV drivetrain made this little Italian car reliable.

Maybe now people won't export all the current 500e's to Europe. Before exporters started doing that you could find a used 500e for ~$5-6k. Now since they have a somewhat higher demand overseas the prices have gone up to over $10k.

Damn is that why? I used to look at these and thought about getting a $6k one. But now they are all gone!

Damn is that why? I used to look at these and thought about getting a $6k one. But now they are all gone!

They may have dispersed through the rest of the country, too. I've seen a couple here in the midwest, which is not the hotbed of electric commuting. That said I am seeing electrics of one form or another on my commute daily now.

The other side of that coin is "how long does it take to fail because time and the competition passed you by?" This is a huge transitional time and nobody knows how fast it's going to happen. Toyota has the money to wait until the last moment and invest heavily, but if Fiat does that they're toast. They have to walk the tightrope that is limited budgets and changing times.

They may have dispersed through the rest of the country, too. I've seen a couple here in the midwest, which is not the hotbed of electric commuting. That said I am seeing electrics of one form or another on my commute daily now.

If a read this correctly, the 500e will be replaced by an all new platform, before the current ancient ICE 500?

FCA is keeping the 500 ICE on its current platform and will freshen the model with cosmetic and engine updates as necessary, like what FCA has done with other models. The 500 still sells well in Europe. More than 190,000 Fiat 500 units were sold in Europe in 2018, using a platform that first debuted with the second-generation Fiat Panda in 2003. I'd like to see FCA's new 1.3T (177hp) engine added to the 500 lineup.

The next-generation 500 is designed to be EV only -- the packaging advantages of clean-sheet EV design suit a small city car, where space is at a premium.

As far as I know, there's no confirmation on whether the new 500e will be sold in the US. I would be a potential customer, so I'm looking forward to the new car's debut.

I was trying to buy one of the few that had made their way out here, a few months back. Only 35,000 miles, and was only asking 10k. Unfortunately it was on another island, and the logistics turned out to be too much of a hassle before it got snapped up by someone local.

The other side of that coin is "how long does it take to fail because time and the competition passed you by?" This is a huge transitional time and nobody knows how fast it's going to happen. Toyota has the money to wait until the last moment and invest heavily, but if Fiat does that they're toast. They have to walk the tightrope that is limited budgets and changing times.

This is all hinging on the very shaky assumption that there is huge unmet demand for BEVs

No, I just want one. The demand is coming and will be much, much stronger once they're cheaper than gassers. They're already cheaper to operate, but once they're cheaper to buy and people have gotten over range anxiety? It won't be over for fueled cars, but their days of being the standard bearer of personal transportation will be over.

Electric vehicles are going to be dominant, the only question is the timeline. Do you think fueled cars will still be dominant in 100 years? 50? 20?

Battery-electric vehicles are unwanted in Europe and fuel-burning cars have at least 30 years left, BMW claimed this week.

The day a European Environment Agency report showed Europe's automotive CO2 contributions had risen for the second year running, BMW's chief engineer insisted there was no demand for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and that nobody was asking for them.

BMW is planning to build 25 new plug-in models by 2025, but that includes both BEVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) as Europe's most prominent EV innovator backtracks on the technology.

“There are no customer requests for BEVs. None,” BMW’s director of development, Klaus Frölich, told a shocked round-table interview in Munich on Tuesday. “There are regulator requests for BEVs, but no customer

Electric vehicles are going to be dominant, the only question is the timeline. Do you think fueled cars will still be dominant in 100 years? 50? 20?

It is going to be dominant. But it will be ho-hum in many continents, while one country will be WAY ahead.

Shunde is one of at least 20 electric-centric versions of Detroit under construction as China goes all-in on a technology projected to sell in record numbers this year. President Xi Jinping wants the nation’s 500 electric car makers to be magnets for ancillary industries as he pushes to build a manufacturing superpower by 2025. That blueprint -- meant to make China more self-sufficient and diversify an investment landscape dominated by volatile property and equity markets -- has become central to the U.S.-China trade war.

Municipalities needing ways to recalibrate their economies want a piece of that plan. They’re offering cheap land, tax breaks and housing subsidies to carmakers, parts suppliers and engineering labs in hopes of attracting thousands of high-technology jobs in the burgeoning EV sector.

The BMW executive’s comments are simply not accurate in a world where the Tesla Model 3 outsells the BMW 3-Series. The fact is that BMW is not leading in BEV sales and marketing, not that there isn’t any demand. BEVs in popular form factors, with enough range, will absolutely sell.

It’s also worth noting that there are so many people who have never been exposed to an EV or have even considered one. It’s not that consumers reject EVs — they don’t even think to consider one. Outside of California, so many people know nothing about EVs, even with Teslas driving around. Automakers need to continue outreach and test drive events to get people in cars and experience EVs.